LANGEBAAN BEACH RESTORATION Langebaan is a small town along the west coast of South Africa.

It is one of the oldest and well-known towns in west coast with a history dating back more than four hundred years. Langebaan is regarded as the tourism hub of the west coast whereas Saldanha and Vredenburg are regarded as the industrial and administrative hubs respectively. Erosion along northern Langebaan beach has been ongoing for several years but the need to protect and restore the beach became evident during 1997 when severe storms resulted in the loss of property and houses, many of which belong to residents from a disadvantaged background. The scale of the erosion at Langebaan is significant, with more than 100 m of the beach that has been lost since the 1960s, about 40 m of which has been lost in the past five years (Clark et al, 2008). In some places the width of the beach has been reduced by as much as 150 m, leaving the house built on the first set of dunes unprotected against storm damage (Clark et al, 2008). Hundreds of metres of beach have disappeared as a consequence of developments at Saldanha Bay, including the extension of the Portnet quay and the narrowing of Saldanha Bay mouth. There is potential loss of the town of Langebaan through the loss of an amenity and likely harmful effects to the Ramsar site (Coetzee, 2007). As a temporary solution three sections of rock revetment along the beach were constructed to prevent any further loss of property. However, the erosion continued along the sections of coastline adjacent to the revetment. The Langebaan beach restoration project is the first phase in permanently mitigating the on- going erosion at the beach. In 2003, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) contracted Southern Oceaneering CC to construct two groynes that would prevent further erosion. They were also contracted to carry out the beach reclamation programme which involved the deposition of large quantities of sand to extend the beach area. Two groynes were constructed using sand filled bags, technically referred to as Geotextile Sand Containers (GSCs), which are stacked in a linear formation for the construction of the groyne. The first groyne is 250 metres long and is at the southern end of Langebaan Point. Beach reclamation was achieved by pumping approximately 170 000m3 of sand which will reinstate a portion of the beach to the northern side of the groyne. The sand used for filling the Geotextile sand containers was borrowed from a temporary borrow area wish was replenished with sand dredged from the accreted sand pit on completion of the construction. Different sized bags (i.e. 2.5m, 12m and 20m) were filled with sand collected from two adjacent areas where sand is mixed continually with

pumped sea water creating a slurry which is then emptied into the bags and stitched closed (Clark et al, 2009). The first 250m groyne was completed in 2005 and thereafter the beach was monitored for six months to asses the effectiveness of phase 1 and to confirm that there are no negative impacts. The estimated beach reclamation to the north of the groyne was 70 000m3 north of the groyne (PRDW, 2007a). The construction of the second groyne commenced in 2005 and a 350m long groyne was constructed. This second groyne was completed in 2008 with an expected beach reclamation of 300 000m3 up drift thereof (PRDW, 2007a). The residents of Langebaan and the public were informed about the project and had held no objections. The public was also informed about the construction methods used in order to prevent confusion and to create awareness of the importance of the project. They were also given a chance to comment and provide some feedback on the progress.

The company Prestedge Retief Dresner Wijnberg have been monitoring the state of the groynes and beach since dredging was completed in November 2008. Some structural damage became evident on the Northern Groyne (the second one constructed), with some of the bags suffering from wave damage. These need to be repaired to ensure no further deterioration. The southern end groyne was reported to be working well and retaining material. A bathymetric survey was conducted at the end of the project and a second bathymetric survey is pending (PRDW, 2007a). The beach restoration project so far has been a success and this will also further cement Langebaan as a significant tourism destination.

REFERENCES Clark B.M, Orr K. K, Angel A, Hutchings K, Steffani N and Turpie J. 2009. State of the Bay 2008: Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon Clark B.M, Tunley K, Angel A, Hutchings K, Steffani N and Turpie J. 2011. State of the Bay 2010: Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon Coetzee, M. 2007. Proposed Construction of Erosion Protection Measures on Paradise Beach, Langebaan, Environmental Impact Assessment. PRDW. 2007a. Prestige Retief Dresner Wijnberg (Pty) Ltd; Port of Saldanha Development Framework Plan. Report No. 491/01/006 Rev 01; December 2007.